AVATARES DE LA AGENCIA Y RESISTENCIA INDIGENA: TITU CUSI YUPANQUI (15??-1571) Y ESTERCILIA SIMANCA (1976)

Abstract

The dissertation proposes a comparative analysis of two indigenous authors who wrote more than four centuries apart: Inca Titu Cusi Yupanqui from 16th century Peru, and a 21st century female Wayuu writer, Estercilia Simanca from Colombia. The focus of the research is the indigenous perspective of colonialism in America; both writers were witnesses to particular circumstances and wrote about them in Spanish. Their texts are forms of agency and resistance against colonial/postcolonial oppression respectively. For the indigenous perspective, the European arrival to the “New World” in 1492 meant the destruction of their culture, ways of life, and in many cases death itself. Yet, indigenous peoples were not passive victims of that history. During the 16th century, Titu Yupanqui’s people confronted and fought against the invaders, and in the 21st century, Estercilia Simanca’s community continues to resist its disappearance. These two indigenous writers severely condemn the colonizers, and my research aims to demonstrate how these two authors play an important role in the preservation of their cultures, and to underscore the relevance of the studying and teaching of indigenous authors.